The Kremlin insists invading Ukraine be described as an essential 'special military operation' and news outlets that don't comply are considered to be reporting 'fake news'.Īs the Russian president continues to crackdown on access to information outside state media, its people are seeking ways around these tight controls with Telegram. Russia also passed a law this month that makes reporting what the state deems as 'fake news' punishable with up to 15 years in prison. However, there’s more going on under the surface. Putin has also blocked Russians from accessing Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, seeking to have Meta recognised as an 'extremist organisation'. At the most basic level, Telegram does many of the things you’d expect from an instant messaging app, including text messages, group chats, voice and video calls, stickers, and file sharing. Russian president Vladimir Putin tightened controls even further this month by banning access to foreign news outlets including BBC, Voice of America and Deutsche Welle. Russia heavily censors internet content to prevent its citizens from seeing critical reports of its actions. And while anyone following an account on Twitter would have to monitor that feed, or rely on the app's algorithm to flag its tweets, Telegram posts alerts whenever new information has been added to a chat, in the same way WhatsApp users receive chat notifications. The interface echoes WhatsApp's chat layout but Telegram users can access groups beyond those set up by their own contacts.

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What is a telegram app